The Art of Tidying
Its an established cliche that clutter holds you up, bogs you down and confuses your mind. It is neither comfortable nor convenient to live with, a visible form of stagnation and an invisible weight on your shoulders. It literally gets in the way of everything.
Even in living spaces that look great, most of us have some clutter tucked away and would appreciate a helping hand to motivate action.
My own home is a neat little urban apartment for two, and we hate to live with clutter. The kitchen has only the essentials for cooking super meals. Our minimal wardrobe space precludes silly shopping sprees. Our workspace is a clever use of limited square footage. Everything has a dedicated place and our possessions are pared down to the bare minimum - or so I thought !
When a client lent me her copy of ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying’ by Marie Kondo, I just had to read it. It certainly captured my imagination and a desire to at least experiment with some of Marie’s innovative suggestions. It is quirky, rather simplistically written, somewhat repetitive and with an evident emphasis on the lifestyle and customs of Marie’s Japanese clients. Nevertheless it is charming, intriguing, motivating. The urge to try out some of her unusual tidying tricks is irresistible.
My scarves are rolled and stood on end in a pretty box that fits perfectly on the shelf where they belong, formerly laid flat and awkward to maintain. It looks like an exclusive boutique. Underwear revamping followed. Lots of cute touches to try out everywhere.
The clearing mood progressed happily on to letting go of a few folders of well preserved ‘important’ papers and such in our well-organised tiny home office. It did not look much stored neatly on shelves. imagine my shock when the security shredding firm gave me a receipt for my 44 kilos of discarded paper. Yes really. Need more encouragement - get the book and get started.
Thank you Marie Kondo for your inspiration. No wonder the book is a best seller.